History, Opinions, Imaginings

Packers Top Rookie: 2015

It’s too early to tell for sure, but the 2015 draft does appear to have potential. Ted Thompson addressed the secondary in the first two rounds, drafting Arizona State cornerback Damarious Randall in round one and Miami of Ohio corner Quinton Rollins in round two. He followed that with Stanford receiver Ty Montgomery in round three, Michigan linebacker Jake Ryan in round four and both Oklahoma fullback Aaron Ripkowski and Alabama-Birmingham tight end Kennard Backman in round six.2014 fifth round receiver Jared Abbrederis from Wisconsin also made his first professional appearance during the 2015 season.

Seven rookie free agents played for the Packers in 2015 as well: runners John Crockett and Alonzo Harris, linebacker Joey Thomas, guard Josh Walker, corner Ladarius Gunter, defensive tackle Bruce Gaston and long snapper Rick Lovato. Thomas and Gunter have seen the most playing time.

While the elusive and versatile Montgomery’s rookie year was cut short by injury and Ripkowski proved himself as the successor to popular role player John Kuhn, three players saw time as starters in their rookie years. Ryan demonstrated his tackling skills, and Rollins recorded a pick-six, but Randall started nine games, picked off three passes – including a pick-six – defensed 14 passes and made 53 tackles; Damarious Randall was the Packers’ top rookie in 2015.